Soft lead solder



Patented Apr. 6, 1948 "National Lead Company, New York, N. Y., a, I corporationof NeiwjJersey I e I it? Wr te- Th s inventicn t ate i ssl i rerti slerly t le tl-t n s' ltle s"lthas se a e e efip a composition containing additional metal celements which impart new and desirable character- A remade 9w so t set lers as wel as solders containing other elements s s t9 l e ii n le s @QQQQlFiiQ til i e Application January e ial 5.1.8495

3 claims. (01. 75-166) d. "It is to be g operations st mm a e w h which .sQ

" herinore, the'low tin or Fll are cha'r'acterize'diri general by po er wetting properties and somewhfat restricted flow. Also. particularly wherfused on hand operations for which it is customary to LlSBSDlQeIing irons or o e r perl s lde in came a the pr i proposed solders exhibited what ey be termed dirty workingproperties.

It is the object of this invention to improve the working properties of low tin solders. It is the pp 's for which only y be usedwith sucsi d revio sly prqposed object to make possible the use of low tin the partially self-fluxin'g nature of the solder when it is used with acid fluxes.

The effect of the added element is two-fold; it reacts with an acid flux and at the same time produces a reaction product which is in itself a good flux, The metal which has been found useful in the practice of the present invention is zinc. This metal should be present in but small amounts not to exceed about 0.5% by weight and preferably in amounts between about 0.005% and about 0.1% by weight.

By the term acid flux is meant either h'ydrochloric (muriatic) acid or any of the zinc chloride fluxes to which it is common and advisable to add a small amount of hydrochloric acid,

Such fluxes contain water in widely varying amounts, normally from 50% to HIOI'EOI' less. While ammonium chloride may be a minor constituent and while such a flux will operate suc cesstunv wi h the-immerse fie der oi the 2 m tion, it is preferred to use a zincchlorideilllii acidulated with a small amopn of hydro hi it: acid.

In view of certain restrictions made under war time conditions solders not more than about 21% tin are of speciallnterestf Ina'solder Containing u he amqliet of tin balanc lead t ro erties of liquidity and I, e i lfel el h r ns der bly improved l y t e hild iiqil 9 m l m un ioi antimony n t to eacee a u 2.0% y wei ht and pr rabl b tween abou 05% and o t 146% Lar er amounts ent mo-ny willoause a ,furthe n n liquid t but only at ztheexpense of brittleness, impact strength and a considerably lesse fipwor s r adin ac i Conseq ntly Wit 'such al vv red tin content it has bee tound that t s oi'n advantage to increasathe amount of" antimony above about 2.0%. When such-low .tin solders of -.the p i r art ar used fordip solderingonerations .or other ope tions requiring a molten solder death, they-tungtion about as well as can be expected on account of their lower tin content, and an .operator'zgra'dually becomes accustomed to their use: However, for hand operations involving the use .of soldering coppers, or for certainspecial purposes as, for instance, in theoperatio'n where .adrop of solder from a well-tinned soldering copper is needed to seal thefilling hole-in a milk oanzor the escape hole in a food :can which has :bieenipasteurized, various additional ;d.ifiiculties are-Tencountered. The solderingcopper' becomeszdirty very quickly due to the dressing of thefls'older metal at the higher temperature necessitated by Ithetuse of such .low ztin solders," and'slthasheen previously found to be highly impractical if not impossible to use anything but high-grade solder such as a 50-50 lead-tin solder for such purposes. In these operations which are known as tipping, the improved flow and clean operation of our improved solder is especially notable and the product of this invention can be successfully used with great ease. In the tipping operation a drop of solder leaves the well-tinned soldering copper at the moment when an acid flux is sprayed at the point of contact. In some cases a machine applies the flux to the can by means of two wicks just before the can moves to the soldering iron.

With the use of the improved solder of this invention it is immediately evident that the soldering copper stays clean for a long time, and the solder flows and spreads readily. This is due to the fact that when the molten solder comes in contact with an acid flux, a chemical reaction immediately takes place forming small amounts of zinc chloride at the surface of the solder metal. This takes place just at the right moment and may be termed a partially self-fluxing action. It is also readily evident that the use of our improved solder makes possible faster work particularly with all types of hand operations using soldering coppers.

A specific example of a solder metal which is recommended for use with an acid flux and which serves to illustrate a product of this invention is as follows, the proportions being by weight:

Per cent Tin 20 Antimony 0.8 Zinc 0.025

Lead Balance Such a solder will have approximately the fol- Such a solder flows and acts about like a 50-50 solder in that it keeps the soldering popper tinned, clean and free from dross for a considerable time. Furthermore; it will be found that the improved solder ofthe present invention shows particularly good wetting properties on all metal surfaces when properly fiuxed.

The amount of zinc which produces the best results is solders of small cross sectional dimensions such as are used in hand soldering with soldering coppers, is between about 0.005% and about 0.05% by weight. n the other hand where a dip soldering operation is concerned, a molten bath of the solder tends to slowly lose zinc over any considerable period of time and therefore a greater intial amount is required to be present in the solder metal.

While, as has been previously stated, the antimony, if present, should generally not exceed about 2.0% by weight, it is by no means necessary to have any antimony present to gain the beneficial effect of the presence of zinc, nor is the amount of zinc dependent in any way, as far as can be determined, on the presence or absence of antimony. This invention contemplates adding zinc in the amounts stated to a lead-tin solder with or without, the added presence of antimony..

Tests made on soldered joints'show a better seam penetration and an increased joint strength 0f the solder of this invention when compared with solders of exactly similar composition except for the presence of zinc. It will be further appreciated that the use of the improved solder of this invention assures greater life to "this invention works and flows perfectly and joint strength tests on all these materials showed in general an improved performance.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description of the present invention has been given merely for illustrative and not limitative purposes. Therefore, it will be appreciated that there is no intention of excluding from the scope of the present invention such changes and modifications as may be accomplished by the mere skill of the art.

I claim:

1. A solder composition useful with acid fluxes comprising by weight about 20% tin, from above 0.005% to about 0.5% of zinc and the balance substantially all lead.

2. A solder composition useful with acid fluxes consisting by weight of about 20 tin, from above 0.005% to about 0.5% of zinc, from about 0.5% to about 1.75% antimony, and the balance substantially all lead.

3. A solder composition useful with acid fluxes consisting by weight of about 20% tin, about 0.025% zinc, about 0.8% antimony and the balance substantially all lead.

GEORGE H. WORRALL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 490,840 Wegner Jan. 31, 1893 500,125 Guttner -4- June 2'7, 1893 1,766,871 Beckinsale June 24, 1930 1,860,095 Harris May 24, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 118 Great Britain Aug. 27, 1914 315,074 Germany Oct. 10, 1919 105,532 Austria Feb. 10, 1926 OTHER REFERENCES Campbell, A List Of Alloys, 1930 ed., pages 49 and 50, pub. by American Society for Testing Materials, Philadelphia, Pa, 

